This invention relates to a resistant tag structure and, more particularly, to a tag having exceptional resistance to the effects of weather, high temperatures, process baths, and age. In one preferred embodiment, the tag is adapted to be prepared on computer printers and other business print out machines.
Although there has been continuing work over the years to provide a suitably resistant tag (see for example the background set out in U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,454), there is still a need for tag that can be used to identify products while the products are exposed to extremes of temperature, weather, rough handling in processing, and during long periods of outdoor storage. There is also a need for tags used in the manufacture of textiles or other materials while the material is processed through hot dying vats and the like as well as long periods of both outdoor storage of raw materials and indoor storage of finished goods, and goods in process. Even further, there is an increasing need for tags that cannot only withstand these extreme requirements but can also be prepared by computer printers and office print out machines.
To meet this multi-faceted need, several approaches were taken. Sometimes steel tags were used. The steel was electrogalvanized and coated to resist corrosion and to accept painting and imprinting. The tag was marked by embossing or by handwriting with suitable ink or paint. This type of tag was not suitable for use in most printing devices because of its stiffness and the unsuitability of the surface for accepting ink from an ink ribbon. Further, it was not suited for systems where more than one tag was to be prepared at one time or where other business forms are to be prepared at the same writing with the tag.
Another approach has been to use a paper-like plastic material such as the material preferred in the use of the instant invention being a spun bonded olefin marketed under the trademark Tyvek by E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. This is a strong material with a heat resistance in the range of 200.degree.-250.degree.F. and an outdoor exposure life of approximately six months -- thus, constituting a substantial improvement over common paper tags but the limits to heat and exposure were not sufficient for many applications in the steel and textile industries described above. Also, such spun bonded olefin tags have a tendency to curl and uncurl with humidity changes and tend to become brittle in time which leads to their destruction.
Another approach to the above problem has been the use of foil tags. This was an attempt to gain the strength and durability of metal with some of the ease of handling of paper tags. These tags have disadvantages in that they do not readily accept print out information from typewriter or computer print out mechanisms. Also, the foil must be relatively thick to have suitable stiffness. This thickness leads to high cost, difficulty in handling the print out mechanism and sharp edges. These inherent qualities make them very difficult to make as a continuous business form suited to computer print out.
Still another approach has been to first prepare a paper tag on the computer and then laminate it, either on both sides to enclose it in a plastic shield or to a more substantial backing material. This requires an additional operation in the prepartion of the tags which results in time delays, and errors in recollating the tag with other business papers that are to accompany the tag in the normal office procedures.
It is a principal object of this invention to prepare a tag that meets the requirements of commerce and industry today, yet avoids the deficiencies of the previously mentioned approaches i.e., a tag made of a laminate material which has suitable resistance to extremes of weather, temperature, process baths and age, yet can be prepared readily on office print out equipment and does not require additional protection or other operations in its preparation or use. This is achieved according to the instant invention by providing a laminate of a metal foil and a web of high density, self bonded spun polyethylene fibers each approximately 0.0002 inch in diameter, the web face of the laminate being equipped with printed indicia for the receipt of tag information. This results in a tag which is capable of resisting the extreme conditions heretofore mentioned and which is peculiarly adapted for imprinting on computer printers and other business print out machines.